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U.S. Air-Traffic Revamp Is Overdue for Boarding

Post Date: May 3rd, 2017 12:16 pm

U.S. air-traffic control badly needs first-class treatment. Donald Trump’s administration wants to privatize the organization that coordinates flights and manages often antiquated systems. The Federal Aviation Administration, currently in charge, has faced obstacles in trying to upgrade its 1940s-era technology, a project estimated to cost about $35 billion. Canada pioneered a self-funding, stakeholder-governed model. A similar approach could work for the more complex American system if carriers, politicians and the like can dump their baggage.

In most ATC operations across the United States, flight patterns are still organized on paper strips and passed by hand from one controller to another. The old-school radar used to mark planes with dots on screens can be off by as much as three miles.